MAPPING 1990 CENSUS-DATA

Depository libraries can now receive electronic data products from the Bureau of the Census. Included in this category are the Summary Tape Files from the 1990 Census, the 1987 Economic Census, County Business Patterns, as well as TIGER, the Census Bureau's geographic map database. Armed with these products, librarians can offer their patrons a wide variety of choices for viewing data. Most exciting is the possibility of presenting data graphically. Using a variety of software packages, the University of New Hampshire library has begun to offer its patrons a variety of data products, ranging from printed census volumes to customized spreadsheets, databases, and maps. The process employed in producing a thematic map using the 1990 Census is described.